 |
Ruler of the gargoyle city of Furnace, buried deep beneath the city of Moonshade, King Zhelkas was the first to welcome the Avatar into the great city of Furnace. During the time of the Imbalance, the other gargoyles were affected with a strange sleep; a similar sleep had been noted in the Emps of Britannia. Concerned, King Zhelkas asked the Avatar to take the Test of Purity, a series of challenges designed to prove if the Avatar was to be the Hero the gargoyle prophecy spoke of. Undaunted by the request, the Avatar accepted. Although the test was strange, filled with visions of his companions and past acquantances.
When the Avatar was finished, King Zhelkas presented him with the Serpent Ring, one of the lost possessions of the Great Hierophant of Balance. When the Avatar asked of a way to leave the Furnace catacombs, King Zhelkas spoke of the terrible trolls that lived deep within the caverns, and mentioned that they guarded an ancient relic. Intrigued, the Avatar searched the catacombs and was able to wrest the Serpent Staff, another possession of the Great Hierophant of Balance, from the clutches of the trolls. Now that the Balance has been restored to the Serpent Isle, King Zhelkas remains in Furnace to rule the gargoyles there. |
 |
Master of the Great Northern Forest, Morghrim was in fact a traveler from another world. Formerly a refugee from the world of Pagan, Morghrim was an enemy of the Guardian, who conquered his world and enslaved the residents. Fearful of the Guardian's wrath, he fled to the Serpent Isle, along with his wolf Windrunner, but was horribly scarred as a result. He was the bearer of the Silver Seed, an ancient yet powerful artifact used to create the Tree of Balance, but during the travel between worlds, it was ruptured, losing the magic stored within. A reference to the Silver Seed was found later by Miggim, the librarian of Monk Isle. Once in Serpent Isle, Morghrim used his magic to create the Orb of Eleron, a mystical orb that allowed Morghrim to store his power to use with the creatures of the Great Northern Forest.
He lived in relative peace until Draygan, a renegade knight of Monitor, stole the Orb of Eleron and proclamed himself the new Forest Master. Helpless without his magic, Morghrim fled to the other side of the forest, vowing to one day recover that which was his. When the Avatar finally traversed the Gorlab Swamp and arrived in the Great Northern Forest, he ran afoul of Draygan, but with help from Draygan's prisoner, Beryl and Morghrim, the Avatar was able to fashion a sleep arrow to overcome Draygan's invulnerablilty. When the Orb of Eleron was returned, Morghrim presented the Avatar with a magic whistle to summon the Hound of Doskar. Following the restoration of the Balance to the lands, Morghrim remains in the Great Northern Forest, living peacefully with Beryl. |
 |
Once the wife of a gold hunter, Beryl became the slave of Draygan after he killed Beryl's husband of a disagreement. Fearful of Draygan's temper and nature, Beryl managed to meet secretly with the Avatar. Speaking of a rare plant called King's Savior, Beryl instructed the Avatar to seek out Morghrim, the Forest Master, for help in defeating Draygan. Following Draygan's death at the hands of the Avatar, Beryl traveled with Morghrim back to his home where she remains today. |
 |
A magical creature capable of tracking anything, the Hound of Doskar proved invaluable to the Avatar during his search for the sage Batlin. Summoned by a magical whistle fashioned by Morghrim the Forest Master, the Hound used personal items of great value to track their owners: a wooden sword to track Cantra of Monitor, a Fellowship medallion to track the sage Batlin. The Hound remains in the Great Northern Forest, awaiting its next master's call. |
 |
Originally created by the followers of Order during the War of Imbalance, the Automatons of the Serpent Isle went through many incarnations to become what they are today. Originally made of a crude iron, the first Automatons, called Armors, were incapable of speech or independant thought, and were often used in places inherently dangerous to humans. The next incarnations, the Brass Automaton, was a slight improvement as they were capable of speech, yet upon their destruction, like the earlier Armors, they were unable to be resurrected. The final version, the Steel Automaton, was created with the ability to speak along with independant thought.
This proved invaluable to the forces of Order, as the highest ranking members of Order sacrificed themselves to create the Lords of Discipline, an Order automaton animated with the soul of the slain Order warrior. An example of this Automaton, Isstanar, was encountered by the Avatar during his travels to plant the Silver Seed in the Serpent Isle's past. Strengthened by the steel arm of the Lords of Discipline, the warriors of Order crushed the followers of Chaos easily. After the followers of Order entered the Wall of Lights, the Automatons across the land remained behind to continue their tasks. During the Avatar's visit to the Serpent Isle, a Moonshade mage, Torrissio, rediscovered the spell Create Automata and was responsible for creating the many Automatons found around Moonshade. His greatest achievement was in the creation of Petra the Automaton, who was designed of a unique metal that was impervious to acid unlike the other Automatons. This proved very useful to the Avatar during his visit to the Temple of Discipline, as in order to recover the Water of Discipline, the Avatar used an ancient mind-transference device to switch bodies with Petra to walk through a channel of acid. These tireless drones of Order remain within the Serpent Isle today, continuing their ancient tasks. |
 |
King of the Goblins and the mortal enemy of the Knights of Monitor, King Pomdirgun was responsible for killing Astrid, the former Champion Knight of Monitor, and stealing the Helm of Courage to dishearten the Knights of Monitor in battle. Secretly planting a spy, Simon the innkeeper within Monitor, Pomdirgun kept abreast of Monitor's military secrets to use against the Knights. Later negotiating a secret bargain with Lord Marsten and Spektor of Monitor, Pomdirgun was prepared to conquer Monitor, until the Avatar, on a secret mission to recover the Helm of Courage, slew the evil Goblin King and recovered the lost Helm, claiming the title of Champion Knight. |
 |
A renegade Knight of the Leopard Clan of Monitor, Draygan traveled to the Great Northern Forest in search of gold along with a group of gold hunters. Their luck turned sour; however, when Draygan, envious of the power that Morghrim possessed, stole the Orb of Eleron to claim the title of Forest Master. This power made him immortal, but at the cost of his sanity. After having a fight with the other gold hunters, Draygan plotted to have them killed, including the Beryl's husband.
Banishing Morghrim to the far side of the Great Northern Forest, Draygan ruled the land with an iron fist. However, his reign was not to be long, as the Avatar, aided by Morghrim and Beryl, fashioned a Sleep Arrow from the King's Savior plant. The arrow rendered Draygan vulnerable for only a moment, which proved to be more than long enough for the Avatar to slay him. After his death, the Avatar returned the Orb of Eleron to Morghrim, its rightful owner. |
 |
A peddler in the skins of slain animals and creatures, Hazard, or The Trapper as he was known, lived within the Great Northern Forest, where he and his partners hunted and skinned animals to sell their pelts to the residents of the Serpent Isle. Following the Avatar's arrival in the Serpent Isle, The Trapper gained possession of a Glass Sword, one of the land's most powerful weapons. Hopeful for the chance to try it, The Trapper headed into the Frozen North to hunt the most dangerous creatures, the Gwani. The Gwani were actually a peaceful culture before they were attacked by the Trapper, who delighted in skinning the creatures even while they were still alive. Joining forces with the sage Batlin, the Trapper took part in the death of Gwenno in order to capture the Wantoness Bane.
It was following Batlin's death within the Spinebreaker Mountains that the Gwani, lured into a deadly trap by the Trapper's men, told the Avatar of the Trapper's hidden lair. Telling of an ancient Gwani amulet that had been stolen by the Trapper, the Gwani promised a reward to the Avatar for the retrieval of it. Enraged at the senseless killing of the Gwani, the Avatar traveled to the Trapper's secret lair and challenged him to a duel. After a brief struggle, the Avatar killed the Trapper, and returned the missing Gwani amulet to its rightful owners. Grateful for its return, the Gwani presented the Avatar with one of the ancient Serpent Teeth. |
 |  |
| Back to Chapter 9 | Read further |